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Deconstruction

Adrian Wooldridge: political editor and Bagehot columnist, The Economist

Boris Johnson wants to reform the state

The civil service relies too much on the old model of generalists

2021 in brief

“The Archers”, an everyday story of country folk, and the world’s longest-running
drama, celebrates 70 years on air. It began broadcasting on BBC radio on January 1st
1951 after a successful five-episode pilot the previous summer

THE INTERIOR designers have been hard at work at Number 70 Whitehall, in the heart
of the British government. Rooms have been fitted out with “co-working” desks and flat
screens displaying “real-time performance data”. The Cabinet Office civil servants who
used to occupy the building have been kicked out and replaced by Boris Johnson’s
closest aides, including Dominic Cummings, his right-hand man, who calls it a “NASA-
style mission-control centre”.

The sound of sawing and hammering will be heard across government in the year ahead.
Departments will be redesigned. Civil servants will be told to sharpen up. “Culture
change” will be enforced from on high.